When I first came across the Nouveau line made by ARC in France, exclusively for Princess House, I was not interested all that much in it. After all, it isn't Corning Ware, right? Well, that has changed over the years. Collecting it can be a bit of a chore though, since it IS a much newer product and was only available through Princess House originally And, when it hit the general market place in 1986, it doesn't seem to have sold all that well because it was more expensive than Corning Ware AND since it is a newer product and required a higher investment, most of the people who purchased it are probably still using it. This last reason is also an issue when collecting the late CorningWare patterns... they are only 15-20 years old and the original purchasers are more than likely still using them, so they are hard to find in the thrift stores. Hey, I still have my original French White Quiche dish (
F-3) and Souffle dish (
F-5) that I bought in 1992 and even before I was a became Corning Ware nut, I never. at any point, considered taking them to a Thrift Store for resale.
Arcoflam is still available and is still produced by ARC in France. It looks a little different now, since the Nouveau design was a Princess House Exclusive. I have seen a smooth version and a swirled pattern design as well... All in white, of course.
So here is my collection as it stands now. I seem to find these in waves. There will be nothing for months, then all of the sudden I am adding 3 pieces in a little over a week.
1 quart, 1 1/2 quart and 2 quart Saucepans with detachable handles in Blue and Green.
10 inch Saute Pan / Chicken Fryer with Domed lid (
for steaming) and detachable handle in White.
1 quart Casserole and 2 quart Casserole with 20cm Steamer Insert made of Borosilicate Glass. (
I do not have the original lid to the 2 quart Casserole, but the lid to the steamer fits quite nicely)
The Casseroles are shallow and wide, thus the lids are slightly off.... The 1 quart Casserole takes the same lid as the 1 1/2 quart Saucepan. The 2 quart Casserole is 8 inches across, so I am assuming it takes the same lid as the 8 inch skillet.
Where is your Arcoflam??
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It is interesting to note, that the W-81 & W-82 both have the 1960s marks on them.....
While the skillet has the later 1970 mark on it with the little Cornflower and "For Range & Microwave" added.
This only shows that the Wheat pattern lasted at least until 1970... though not past 1972 when the A-Series began. Since none of the books mention a definitive timeframe of production, nor do they list which pieces were produced. Wheat is still kind of an enigma.
